Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2010

Why Does the Moon Turn Red During a Lunar Eclipse?

Early Tuesday morning, a ruby-colored light show will appear in the sky as a total lunar eclipse turns the normally pallor moon scarlet. Coinciding with the winter solstice, which falls on Dec. 21st this year, the eclipse will result in the Earth's shadow completely covering the moon for a total...

Feb 28, 2010

Was the Big Bang Really an Explosion?

The Big Bang is science's best explanation for how the universe began. According to the theory, the universe started out much hotter and much denser than it is today, and expanded and cooled over time. Though the term may sound like the universe began with a giant explosion, many scientists...

Oct 31, 2011

Danger! Falling Rocks: Meteorites and Asteroids (Infographic)

Space-y Tales: The 5 Strangest MeteoritesFallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites5 Mars Myths and Misconceptions ...

Oct 31, 2011

Deflecting Killer Asteroids Away From Earth: How We Could Do It

A huge asteroid's close approach to Earth tomorrow (Nov. 8) reinforces that we live in a cosmic shooting gallery, and we can't just sit around waiting to get hit again, experts say. Asteroid 2005 YU55, which is the size of an aircraft carrier, will zip within the moon's orbit tomorrow,...

Oct 31, 2011

Could Life Exist On Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa?

Europa, Jupiter's icy moon, meets not one but two of the critical requirements for life, scientists say. For decades, experts have known about the moon's vast underground ocean a possible home for living organisms and now a study shows that the ocean regularly receives influxes of the energy required for...

Jul 31, 2011

The Greatest Mysteries of Saturn's Moons

Each week this summer, Life's Little Mysteries presents The Greatest Mysteries of the Cosmos, starting with the coolest stuff in our solar system. The space around Saturn is a busy place. In addition to the planet's giant rings, more than 60 known moons zip about the world. Some moons actually...

Jun 30, 2011

The Greatest Mysteries of the Asteroid Belt

Each Friday, Life's Little Mysteries, presents The Greatest Mysteries of the Cosmos, starting with our solar system. Beyond the orbit of Mars, but not as far as Jupiter, lurk the many hundreds of thousands of rocky bodies collectively known as the asteroid belt. Many solar systems are thought to contain...

Jun 30, 2011

The 7 Strangest Asteroids: Weird Space Rocks in Our Solar System

Intro (Image credit: NASA)Early this Saturday (July 17) morning EDT, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid Vesta. This will be our best look yet at an asteroid, and what the probe digs up could help scientists answer several questions about this and the hundreds of thousands of asteroids...

May 31, 2011

Face of Gandhi Found On Google Mars

Now that Google Mars, a new online map pieced together from satellite images of the Red Planet, is up and running, space enthusiasts the world over are finding interesting objects on the Martian surface. The latest is a face found by an Italian named Matteo Ianneo, who has also claimed...

Apr 30, 2011

Dying Stars to Collide and Create Stellar Baby

The collision of two dying stars can create a living one, scientists say. Scientists have discovered a binary system of two dying stars, known as white dwarfs, set to collide and give birth to a new, living star. Our sun — and indeed, more than 90 percent of all stars...

Apr 30, 2011

New 3-D Map of Universe Is Best One Yet

This story was updated at 11:29 am ET. BOSTON — Astronomers have created the most complete 3-D map of our local universe, revealing new details about our place in the cosmos. The map shows all visible structures out to about 380 million light-years, which includes about 45,000 of our neighboring...

Mar 31, 2011

NASA Photos Bring Millions of Galaxies and Asteroids Down to Earth

NASA has unveiled a flood of photos showing millions galaxies, stars and asteroids photographed by a prolific sky-mapping telescope that ended its mission earlier this year. For the first time, the space agency publicly released more than half of the 2.7 million images taken by its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer...

Feb 28, 2011

Dusty Spiral Galaxy Is Closer Than Once Thought

The star-forming regions of a nearby spiral galaxy glow bright pink in a spectacular new image from a telescope atop a Chilean peak. And the galaxy's actually slightly closer than astronomers once thought, researchers say. The glowing pink clouds seen in the image of the spiral galaxy NGC 247 are...

Feb 28, 2011

'Supermoon' Lunacy: Does the Moon Make Us Crazy?

With the so-called supermoon upon us, as our only natural satellite makes its largest appearance Saturday (March 19) in more than 18 years, should we expect any lunacy? For centuries legend has held that full moons make people go crazy. Full moons have been linked in popular culture with a...

Feb 28, 2011

Balloons Flying Over Antarctica May Help Solve Radiation Mystery

The planet is surrounded by two gigantic, fluctuating donut-shaped zones made of protons and electrons known as the Van Allen radiation belts. The charged particles in these zones can damage sensitive electronics on spacecraft such as those used for global positioning systems (GPS) and communications and can injure humans in...